Furious air passengers have told of their four days of hell trying to fly home to the UK from the Caribbean as a pilot warned them they could have faced a “watery grave”.

Monarch Airlines have admitted the captain of flight MON368 from Tobago may have used the “wrong choice of words” as he warned passengers if a technical fault had not been repaired they could have plunged into the sea.

Over 170 passengers were forced to spend the first night in hotels in Tobago instead of boarding the Gatwick-bound flight on April 2.

After boarding the next day the captain explained there had been a fault with a reverse thruster - used to slow planes down on landing - and an engineer had been flown out from Britain.

He then said that if it hadn’t been repaired it could have kicked in during mid-flight and led them all to a “quick watery grave.”

But he then went onto explain a Lauda plane had crashed in 1991 from a similar fault when a thruster went off in mid-flight killing 213 on board in Thailand.

And barely 20 minutes into their homeward-bound flight, the pilot pressed the intercom button again to tell passengers smoke and fumes were seeping into the cockpit - and they were having to make an emergency landing at Barbados.

Passenger Derek Gerrard, of Powys, Wales, flying home with wife Deborah, said: “This was only our fourth overseas holiday and it was supposed to very special.

“It will certainly be etched in our memories, but for all the wrong reasons.”

As the plane touched down in Barbados, emergency vehicles lined the runway, but the jet landed safely.

Passengers were then forced to spend a second night in hotels and told to contact their tour operators to find out when their journey home could be resumed.

The Gerrards were told by tour operators Tropical Sky a “rescue plane“ was on it’s way to Barbados to pick them up and they would resume flying home the next day, April 5.

Passengers arrived at the airport they were given an initial departure time of 11.45 am, but that was pushed back to 3.55pm.

As they boarded, they were delayed again because the plane was refuelling and it eventually took to the air at 5.15pm local time - eventually arriving at Gatwick just before 5am on April 5, four days late.

Added Mr Gerrard: “ My wife is having a hard time dealing with what happened. She has had a couple of nightmares about being in a burning plane. It is disrupting her sleep and her work, which is causing even more anxiety.”

Airline Monarch said it was investigating the delays and was contacting passengers to discuss it’s findings and possible compensation options.

It also agreed one of its pilots had made “inappropriate” comments during the diversion to Barbados.

One source said the pilot could have “ used a better choice of words.”

Monarch said they regretted the significant delays on the return flight to Gatwick.

A spokesman said: “The aircraft experienced a technical issue before departure from Tobago, which was subsequently rectified by engineers before being cleared for operation.

‘During the delay customers were given hotel accommodation and provided with meals.

‘Shortly after the re-scheduled take-off, a further unconnected technical issue was detected and the aircraft was diverted to Barbados where customers disembarked and were transferred to hotel accommodation.

‘Given the technical issues on this occasion, we made alternative arrangements to return customers to London Gatwick at the earliest time – including the sourcing of another aircraft to complete the journey back to the UK.

‘The Captain took appropriate measures in line with manufacturer and company procedures to ensure the safe landing at Barbados.

‘We are entirely confident that the Captain took the correct action to ensure the safety of all on board.

‘We always encourage our pilots to give regular and open updates to our customers. On this occasion, during one update, he used an inappropriate choice of words to reinforce the need to divert to Barbados and has expressed his regret at doing so.

‘Accommodation, meals and beverages were provided to customers during the delays in Tobago and Barbados, and every effort is being made to refund additional expenses incurred as a result of the delay. We are writing to customers to let them know the findings of our investigation and to discuss their options for compensation.”

Yup, four days of sheer HELL... in tropical paradises, in beach resort comfort, fully fed and watered... only a Brit could experience such conditions and insist that it was awful, terrible hell on wheels... such suffering the citizens of this British nation must have gone through, having to resist yet another swim in the warm ocean or pool... my heart goes out to them... but at least now they will be further compensated by the airline for their extra four days in the tropics.